Turning 30

Reaching the big 30 can be a challenging time. You just know things are going to change. Half of your life is possibly already over. But this is not the fact that bothers you the most, it is the people. I had heard my sisters say, and all of my friends who have a few years on me, that life will change once you turn 30. You wouldn’t be the same person, physically or mentally. But I never believed them. I always thought that my life would be different.

As I am nearing this milestone, I have started to realize… they were right. My life has already changed. I have a different set of people I hang out with all the time; they are called colleagues (Some of these beautiful people have however successfully been friendzoned). I get a hangover when I drink a lot (like A LOT). I can’t do all-nighters every weekend. And the best one… the one my mom made me believe that I will have mastered by now... I still suck at managing the home. I can’t cook, clean, take care of a child, go to work, cook again, and function on only 6 hours of sleep.

Honestly, I thought this would be more difficult… because I haven’t played by the rules. I am not married, not even close. And because I am not married, I surely don’t have kids (however I have a gorgeous niece and an amazing nephew whom I love more than I would have ever loved a child that would come out of my uterus). I am not a super successful novelist or way ahead in my career (because if I am not married, I better have some good excuse like I was focused on my career). But it wasn’t. What is difficult for me to accept is the part where your friends abandon you, where they get so busy that they cancel plans even when you are meeting after months. The part where they just don’t feel the way they used to when you used to cry in their arms after a breakup. (Oh yes, one more revelation of turning 30 is that you won’t cry anymore, at least not in front of people.) So your friend of many many years will become this person that calls you, or that you call, once in two weeks and says what’s happening in your life… aur bata.. theek hai I’ll call you later.

I know after reading all of this, it sounds like my life is too sad. But that’s the positive side of being 30 (and matured, if I may). You don’t care. You are the most independent and self-satisfied person in the world. You have your freedom. When you see your friends constantly cribbing about their spouses or about how they have failed as parents, you know you don’t have to feel that way. And when they are having their romantic vacations or dinner dates, you will be at a bar, with your people drinking, dancing, and then puking (aging is the worst), but having your kind of fun.

So I am turning 30 this month. I am single. I have namesake friends.  And I do not have even an idea of what I want to do in my career. I am definitely not where I thought I would be when I turn 30, but I am certainly who I thought I would be, or maybe even better. ;)